The subject matter disclosed herein relates to a syngas cooler system and a method of superheating steam in a syngas cooler system.
A gasifier converts carbonaceous materials into a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, referred to as synthesis gas, synthetic gas, or syngas. The syngas may be used for power generation, chemical production, or any other suitable application. Prior to use, the syngas may be cooled in a syngas cooler and treated in a gas treatment system.
An integrated gasification combined cycle (“IGCC”) power plant or a chemical application plant includes one or more gasifiers that use a feedstock, such as coal or natural gas, interacting with oxygen and/or steam to produce syngas. Gasification systems may convert the carbonaceous feedstock, or another fuel, into a gaseous mixture of carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen (H2), i.e., syngas, by reaction with oxygen and steam in a gasifier. Upon gasification, the resulting syngas may include less desirable components, such as ash. The syngas may be directed through a quench chamber to cool the syngas to a saturation temperature and remove the less desirable components as a slag.
Current radiant syngas coolers (“RSC”) are designed to produce saturated high pressure steam. In IGCC applications, the steam from RSC is integrated with heat recovery steam generation (“HRSG”) superheater for power production. However, in chemical applications, the steam from RSC may be required to run air separation unit (“ASU”) compressors. To use the steam from RSC, it is necessary to superheat the steam. With current RSC, the end user is required to design a superheating section separately in the balance of plant (“BoP”).